Wilson and Parker back on WDFN Detroit

(March 11, 2014) WDFN 1130, once the powerhouse sports radio station in Metro Detroit, appears to be making a play to get back in the game. STAA client Mark Wilson and Rob Parker – a once-popular on-air duo – are coming back to the airwaves, and landing on WDFN.

“Parker and the Man” will debut Monday, March 24, and will air weeknights from 7 to 10.

An STAA client since 2008, Wilson was most recently Program Director and Operations Manager of NBC Sports Radio Detroit.

“After working some other projects the last few years, it’s exciting to be back with Rob doing what we do best,” Wilson said. “And that’s bring informative and entertaining sports-talk radio on this new multi-level platform to all of Metro Detroit.”

WDFN set the standard for local sports talk in the early 1990s and was a power player until 2007, when its chief competitor, WXYT 1270, flipped to the FM dial (97.1). With a bigger signal, WXYT seized the command of the ratings and hasn’t looked back.

What ensued was a series of severe cost-cutting measures by WDFN’s parent company, Clear Channel, which eventually left 1130 with just one local show, Matt Shepard in the mornings.

“This just seems so right because it’s the 20th anniversary of WDFN, Detroit’s original all-sports station,” Parker said. “And I’m excited to work with Mark again. He’s a pro’s pro, a great broadcaster.

“Plus, I can’t wait to mix it up with Detroit sports fans again on the radio.”

“Parker and the Man” first launched on 1130 in 1998, and a year later landed at 97.1 – starting a successful seven-year run, which peaked with the show being No. 1 in the Detroit night ratings in 2005.

The new show also will be live-streamed Premier Sports Talk Network, an online outlet of Woodward One Media, which is behind this venture.

“’Parker and the Man’ is a proven commodity in Motown,” Weston Silver, Woodward One Media CEO, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be able to put them back on the air.

“Sports fans will flock back to them because their show is both fun and informative.”